An American court has sentenced Ifeanyi Ugwu, 50, of Bakersfield, to one year in prison for facilitating illegal transfers up to $5 million from the U.S. to China, Nigeria and other countries between December 2020 and August 2023.

U.S. District Judge Jennifer Thurston issued the sentence on Monday after prosecutors determined Mr Ugwu created a haven for fraudsters to steal from American citizens.

U.S. Attorney Eric Grant of the Eastern District of California said Mr Ugwu operated an unlicensed money transmitting business, opening 20 accounts in nine banks to carry out the crime.

The 50-year-old owned, operated, and named himself the  CEO of Franklin Finance Inc., a company he used to carry out the illegal international transfers.

Despite lacking a licence, prosecutors said Mr Ugwu portrayed his business as “money transfers … at black market rates”, using it to receive funds from over 100 individuals, largely fraudsters, who used his accounts as conduits for scams.

His operation attracted fraudsters and enabled the theft of hundreds of thousands of dollars from American citizens, the U.S. Justice Department said on Monday, disclosing that several of the individuals who sent Ugwu funds were victims of cybercrimes and fraud.

Mr Ugwu pleaded guilty on April 6 to operating an unlicensed money transmitting business involving more than $5 million in illegally obtained funds.